Roseanne had quite a day on Twitter. And Chelsea Clinton knew exactly what to do about it.
Hours before Roseanne Barr's infamous tweet that got her show canceled, she was already caught up in another Twitter meltdown, sending unsolicited, hateful tweets to Chelsea Clinton.
On May 28, Barr tweeted at the former first daughter, with a jab at billionaire George Soros, a favorite target of right-wing conspiracy theorists:
Rather than lower herself to Roseanne's level, Clinton responded with simple facts and a measure of kindness her attacker frankly didn't deserve:
Good morning Roseanne - my given middle name is Victoria. I imagine George Soros’s nephews are lovely people. I’m j… https://t.co/BIb7HHlKfF— Chelsea Clinton (@Chelsea Clinton) 1527591795
Hours later, Roseanne's racist tweet dominated the news. But it's worth following the Twitter trail of evidence.
By the morning of May 29, Roseanne was the biggest story on Twitter. A vile racist tweet directed at former Obama White House Adviser Valerie Jarrett left ABC little choice but to cancel Roseanne's TV show. That's obviously a huge story but if you look at Roseanne's Twitter feed over the past 24 hours, it's clear this wasn't an isolated incident.
Roseanne compared Clinton's appearance to an animal, accused her of sympathizing with Nazis, and retweeted others claiming Clinton was part of a "conspiracy" to defend Soros.
Just take a moment to observe all the things Roseanne had to do to get canceled: - Call Valerie Jarrett an ape - a… https://t.co/TpzqbSig1h— Travon Free (@Travon Free) 1527616913
In context, Roseanne's more infamous racist tweet is less shocking than inevitable. If we weren't talking about her show getting canceled, we'd almost certainly be talking about any one of the other offensive, inaccurate, and bizarre things she's tweeted.
Hopefully Roseanne honors her promise to take a break from Twitter. We'd rather honor people like Clinton for the good things they're doing.
After apologizing for her racist tweet, Roseanne said she was leaving Twitter.
Meanwhile, if you're not a regular follower of Chelsea Clinton on Twitter, her artful handling of Roseanne's invective isn't her first rodeo when it comes to showing the world of social media a better way forward.
Despite her outspoken criticism of President Donald Trump, she was quick to defend his young son Barron when he became the target of cruel jokes online in January 2017. And after a "Saturday Night Live" writer made a joke about the then-10-year-old, Clinton quickly responded saying, "Barron Trump deserves the chance every child does — to be a kid."
Now, if more people could just act like adults, we might not need Clinton to explain the rules of decent engagement to Roseanne and others on Twitter. But in the meantime, we're glad she's there spreading a message of decency and kindness.